USAF F-15s arrive in the Middle East as Israel weighs response to Iran attack

More U.S. Air Force fighter jets scheduled to be deployed to the Middle East late last month arrived as Israel considers its response to Tehran's ballistic missile attack on Israel on Oct. 1. A squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles began arriving in the region in October. 9, US Central Command announced.

The Biden administration ordered more air power to the region following Israel's killing of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iran responded with a volley of about 180 ballistic missiles fired at Israel – many targeting Israeli Air Force bases – which were largely intercepted, according to Israeli and American officials.

Now Israel is weighing its response and will likely launch some form of airstrike against Iran. The Biden administration is trying to avert a full-scale regional war.

President Joe Biden has said the U.S. would not support an attack on Iran's nuclear or oil facilities, but the White House and Pentagon have made clear the U.S. will stand by Israel in the event of an attack.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at the Pentagon on October 9, but his visit was postponed until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Biden by phone.

“We continue to consult with the Israelis about how they might respond,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Oct. 8.

After Nasrallah's assassination, the Pentagon ordered three more USAF fighter and attack aircraft squadrons to the region: additional F-15Es, F-16s and A-10s.

The new Strike Eagles stationed in the Middle East are from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, Air & Space Forces Magazine first reported. CENTCOM later announced the move. The first aircraft made their way across the Atlantic and landed at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, where they were spotted by local observers on October 7.

The F-15Es will then have to cross the Mediterranean after similar missions on the mainland United States. The fighters are supported by USAF tankers, according to open-source flight tracking data. It is unclear whether all of the F-15Es have arrived in the Middle East, as fighter squadrons typically do not land at their forward air base all at once.

The US plans to expand the deployment of current aircraft units in the Middle East to increase the total number of fighter and attack aircraft in the region, essentially doubling the fourth-generation aircraft base. The US already has fifth-generation F-22 air superiority fighters in the Middle East, and the Raptors will continue their deployment as planned.

The Pentagon is overlapping the deployments of incoming and outgoing F-15E, F-16 and A-10 units to provide a temporary boost to the region. The additional A-10s arrived about 10 days ago. The US also took such a step after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7 and in April, before Iran attacked Israel.

F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., were first deployed to the region in April of this year, and shortly after arriving in the Middle East, these aircraft were deployed along with F-16s and F-16s U.S. Air Force coalition warplanes helped shoot down 80 Iranian drones in an earlier Iranian attack on Israel on April 13.

Seymour Johnson's F-15Es currently in the Middle East will remain in the region for now, as part of Austin's decision to postpone the redeployment of current forces to strengthen the posture of U.S. forces in the region, said a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

U.S. warplanes were ready to support Israel by firing drones or cruise missiles on Oct. 1, a person familiar with the matter said, but U.S. aircraft were not needed because Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles against which the Fighters cannot defend themselves. Two US destroyers fired a dozen interceptors at Iranian ballistic missiles.

In addition to land-based air power, the United States maintains the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the Middle East, which carries F-35C Lightning II and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft. The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was deployed from Virginia last month and is scheduled to head to the Mediterranean. The USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship carrying AV-8 Harrier fighter aircraft, V-22 Ospreys tiltrotor aircraft and approximately 2,200 Marines and sailors from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in the eastern Mediterranean.

“It is our assessment that this conflict is still contained and, from our perspective, we are doing everything we can to ensure that it remains contained and that the message of deterrence continues to be spread far and wide,” Singh said. “That's why you've seen us deploy different airlines in the region. We still have the ARG/MEU in the Eastern Mediterranean. We flew with different skills. We have a lot of power in the region. And we will use that if necessary to protect U.S. forces. And if we see another attack from Iran, we will also defend Israel.”